Tank having a photographic development machine



July 25, 1961 c. L. LOVERCHECK TANK HAVING A PHOTOGRAPHIC DEVELOPMENTMACHINE Filed Aug. 14, 1957 FIG. 2

INVENTOR.

C HARLES L. LOW

United States Patent 2,993,427 TANK HAVING A PHOTOGRAPHIC DEVELOPMENTMACHINE Charles L. Lovercheck, 632 W. 7th St., Erie, Pa. Filed Aug. 14,1957, Ser. No. 678,226 1 Claim. (Cl. 95-96) This invention relates totanks and, more particularly, to tanks suitable for use withphotographic developing material.

Photographic developing material tanks have usually been open or thefluid therein at least partially exposed and they have, therefore, beensubjected to deterioration due to oxidation and exposure to theatmosphere. In many photographic machines, it is necessary to remove thefluid from the tank after use in order to prevent its deterioration andthe materials are often stored in bottles. This necessitates a timeconsuming operation of removing the materials and, also, introduces thelikelihood of spilling the materials.

It is, accordingly, an object of this invention to overcome the aboveand other disadvantages in previous liquid tanks, especially those usedfor photographic fluids and, more particularly, it is an object of thisinvention to provide a tank which is simple in construction, economicalto manufacture, and simple and efiicient to use.

Another object of the invention is to provide a photographic liquid tankcomprising an outer and an inner concentrically disposed,semi-cylindrical member connected together toprovide a tanktherebetween.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a flexible tankwhich can be sealed during periods of nonuse at its open ends bycompressing the ends together.

A further object of this invention is to provide an improved tank andsealing means therefor.

With the above and other objects in view, the present invention consistsof the combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fullydescribed, illustrated in the accompanying drawing and more particularlypointed out in the appended claim, it being understood that changes maybe made in the form, size, proportions, and minor details ofconstruction without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of theadvantages of the invention.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a transverse cross sectional view taken on line 1-1 of FIG. 2of a tank according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a top view of the tank according to the invention;

FIG. 3 is a top view of the wringer shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a top view of the closing device according to the invention;and

FIG. 5 is an end view of the closing device.

Now with more specific reference to the drawing, a tank is shown havinga wringer 11 supported above a discharge end 12 of the tank 10 and aclamping device 13 in position at the inlet end thereof and a clampingdevice 14 at the outlet end thereof.

The tank 10 is made up of an outer generally hemicylindrical tankportion 16 and an inner generally hemicylindrical tank portion 17 whichis disposed concentric to the outer tank portion 16. The ends of theouter tank portion 1 6 and the inner tank portion 17 are connected byend members 18 and 19. The tank 10, therefore, is generally in the formof a crescent and fluid 20 may be contained between the outer and innertank portions 16 and 17.

An opening 21 is formed generally in the center of the inner tankportion 17 and a tube 22 is fixed and sealed thereto at 23. The tube 22extends upwardly approximately to a level with an upper edge 24 of theinlet end of the tank 10. A tube of a suction device for removing aliquid can be inserted through the tube 22 and the liquid pumped fromthe tank 10 in that manner.

The wringer 11 has two rolls 26 and 27 which may be connected by meansof bearings 28 and 29. The rolls 26 and 27 may be driven by means of amotor 30 through a belt 31 properly belted thereto so that whenphotographic paper is inserted through the upper edge 24 of the inletend and comes through the fluid 20 to the discharge end 12, the liquidremoved from the paper by the wringer rolls 26 and 27 will fall backinto flared ends 32 and 33 of the discharge end 12 and the liquid will,therefore, be returned to the tank 10.

The tank 10 is preferably made of a vinyl plastic of the flexiblevariety as is presently used for making bottles, drinking cups, and thelike. The clamping devices 13 and 14 are disposed as shown at the upperedge 24 of the inlet end and the discharge end 12. The clamping devicesor rolls 13 and 14 may be generally cylindrical and their ends may havejournals 38 and 39 received in a slot 40 in a support 41. The support 41is fixed to a fixed supporting surface holding the rolls 13 and 14 infixed relation to the ends of the tank 10. A threaded screw 42threadably engages a threaded hole 43 in the support 41 and forces thejournals 38 and 39 toward each other, thereby squeezing the ends of thetank 10 together and clamping the ends in closed position. Therefore,liquid in the tank 10 will not be exposed to the outside atmosphere whenthe tank is not in use.

The foregoing specification sets forth the invention in its preferredpractical forms but the structure shown is capable of modificationwithin a range of equivalents without departing from the invention whichis to be understood is broadly novel as is commensurate with theappended claim.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property orprivilege is claimed are defined as follows:

A tank comprising an outer generally hemi-cylindrical tank portion, aninner generally hemi-cylindrical tank portion, said inner tank portionbeing disposed generally concentric to said outer tank portion, endmembers connecting said inner tank portion to said outer tank portionforming a repository for fluid therebetween, the side edges of saidinner and said outer tank portions being open, one said side edge ofsaid inner tank portion flaring inwardly and one said edge of said outertank portion flaring outwardly to catch drops of fluid from sheets ofmaterial moved through fluid in said repository, said tank,

portions being made of flexible material, means to squeeze the sideedges of said inner tank portion into sealing engagement with the sideedges of said outer tank portion whereby said repository is closed toprevent the contents thereof from being exposed to the atmosphere, and atube connected to said inner tank member and communicating with saidrepository whereby fluid may be drawn through said tube from saidrepository.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,051,789 Wallace Jan. 28, 1913 1,481,759 Suqiura et a1. Jan. 22, 19242,135,817 Hughey Nov. 8, 1938 2,186,927 Hughey Jan. 9, 1940 2,405,233Peckrnan Aug. 6, 1946 2,428,681 Pratt et a1. Oct. 7, 1947 FOREIGNPATENTS 848,013 Germany Dec. 11, 1952 1,105,023 France June 22, 1955

